ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR STUDIES IN ARCHITECTURE

It is the systematic examination of relationships between the environment and human behavior
and their application in the design process. The basic questions to be asked are: How do people
interact with the built environment? What are their needs? How do we apply such
understandings in the design process? The architect then makes assumptions about the human
needs and a decision about how the built environment can best serve these needs. Environment-
behavior studies in architecture encompass more than just function. Function architecture often
refers to dimensional concerns so that the building can function as it was intended to, and to be
quantifiable concerns like circulation flows and proximities between activities for ease of access
for the people. Environment-behavior studies also include aesthetics which is related to peoples
preferences, experiences and their perception of the world thus formal aesthetics is supplemented
with a user-based experiential aesthetics. Environment-behavior studies also extend to
technology or architectural cues which give a strong expression of firmness or protection as
opposed to one of airiness or lightness. Although cues may be very different from the factors that
lead structural engineers, the perceptual basis for the expression of structure is grist also for the
architects mill. A great deal of useful information has emerged from the multidisciplinary field of
environment-behavior studies which begun the documentation of relationships between individual
behavior, social rules, cultural values and the physical environment.

Environmental Behavior Studies in Design Process

Indeed, in the practice of architecture, unlike in the research disciplines, these issues are taken
rather more lightly. Most often than not, information and data are not available and there is hardly
a time or capacity to create such knowledge particular to the situations at hand. Programs or
briefs for buildings are mere lists of spaces required with floor areas and specific relations among
them if they are known. The clients are unable to provide exacting requirements and the role of
producing briefs lie in the hands of the designers, but neither finances nor time is available to the
designers to carry out comprehensive research on other more significant aspects prior to the
commencement of design activities. Interviews with clients may be held and questionnaires of
user needs may be carried out occasionally but in a loose fashion and the findings of such
research remain general and interpreted on personally bias ways with hardly rigorous scientific
basis. 'General' guidelines that provide
standards help articulate the briefs to
some extent but there is a serious doubt
if such standards fulfill the requirements
posed by the complexity of man
environment interfaces of the given
situations. Cultural variations,
situational differences and contextual
specificities exist that make the use of
any generalized guidelines loosely
relevant. Most often, quantitative data
on the sites, the users and the
organizations and institutions to be
housed in buildings are known to a
reasonably accurate degree but
qualitative information is hard to come
by and difficult to be assimilated.
Paradigms and paradoxes

a. Environmental Determinism (Architectural Determinism)

Many theories have emerged based

b. The Interractionist Paradigm

Focused on the idea of meaning proposed that the meanings people assign to the
environments mediate the effects the environments have for people and that such
meanings are both given and
modified by the people
themselves. Physical stimuli do not
have general consequences for all
people but vary dramatically from
one person to another. Semiotics
and non-verbal communication
approaches have been examined
and a notable body of knowledge
about how people assign
meanings and interpret them in the
process of acting upon those cues
has enabled a clearer
understanding of the interactions
between people and their physical
settings.
 c. The Transactionist Paradigm

Emphasizes on the reciprocal nature of the relations between people and their
environments. It takes into account the people, the environment and their social and
psychological contexts and argues that as much as the environments have implications
for people, the very presence of the people themselves bring implications for the
environments. It is suggested that there is no direct causal relationship between people
and their physical settings but
the key to understanding these
relationships involve
understanding the
conceptualizations people have
of their environments and their
social contexts. Indeed, in this
model, people and
environments are not.
considered as static separate
entities one having an impact
upon the other or interacting
with each other, but as
continuously evolving
organisms having components
in each other.

Influence of architecture in human behavior

Architecture do influence human behavior in many ways. A comfortable place satisfied to ones
physical needs, will bring sunshine. The color and texture of the structure can also influence ones
mood. For example, in a daycare setting, coloring the walls, ceiling, and the floors of play areas
can make children feel safe and secure, and so learning and discovery activities are stimulating.
Asian inspired designs often incorporate the use of plant life within buildings because the inclusion
of natural elements is always helpful to lower stress levels.
BEHAVIORAL URBANISM OR BEHAVIORAL ARCHITECTURE
Behavioral urbanism and its related area of study, behavioral architecture, is
an interdisciplinary field focused on the interaction between humans and the built environment,
studying the effects of social, cognitive, and emotional factors in understanding the
spatial behavior of individuals.

http://sydney.edu.au/architecture/documents/staff/garymoore/29.PDF
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